BPI going solar
MANILA, Philippines - Ayala-owned Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) is set to enter into a P160-million build-operate-transfer (BOT) agreement for the installation of solar panels for 400 of its branches nationwide.
BPI executive director Florendo Maranan said the bank would enter into an agreement with Solarus Partners for the BOT solar project, which will be the first of its kind in the country’s banking industry.
“This is still in its experimental stage, but we expect to complete the project in three years. This will be the next step for us after Cofely made a complete change in our chillers and the upgrade in our air handling units at our head office,” Maranan said.
Cofely, one of the leading companies in energy and environmental efficiency services, replaced the aging chiller plant at BPI’s head office in Makati City and set up a building management system in 2010.
BPI’s branches in Ayala Avenue and Cainta have been equipped with five kilowatt solar panels. BPI expects to have half its branches fitted with solar panels that can produce 20 kW power or 40 percent of its monthly electricity consumption.
Maranan said each solar panel that would be installed in BPI branches nationwide costs P400,000 and could withstand a 150 kilometer per hour storm surge.
Maranan said BPI’s P71-million investment to replace its old chiller plant has yielded a P1-million monthly savings for the Ayala-run universal bank with full return on investment by 2018 by Cofely through an energy efficiency performance contract.
“More than 60 percent of our energy usage was due to our air-conditioning system. If not for the fluctuating Meralco rates, savings would have been a lot higher,” Maranan said, noting that before the change, BPI was spending P62 million annually on electricity.
BPI has more than 2,000 employees in its head office. The 20-story building uses the new chiller plant from 7:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. with three operations-related floors heavy on its use.
BPI’s agreement with Solarus will be until 2015 and will include a P91-million total makeover of the chiller plant for its Card Center building and Buendia Center in Makati City.
In May this year, BPI opened its first solar-powered branch in Ayala Avenue extension in Makati as a kick-off point to becoming a bank pushing for cleaner environment.
According to Maranan, BPI would be putting similar solar facilities in other branches particularly in areas where electricity is scarce.
“We’re exploring solar energy systems for branches that are off-grid or those that do not have regular or stable source of power,” said Maranan, who also heads BPI’s Sustainability Office.
The bank official said BPI hopes that the move would not only put the spotlight on the global crusade for a greener planet.
“We want to showcase the best green practices in a single branch so that we can demonstrate the benefits that can be derived from the strategy,” he said, noting that this same branch will also be the pilot for other green initiatives, such as LED signage, rainwater harvesting, and inverter air-conditioning units.
The BPI Ayala extension branch was chosen primarily because of its location. Since it is not surrounded by tall buildings, the solar panels can freely trap sunlight and its location near the BPI head office will allow for easy monitoring.
As the Philippines has been identified as one of the countries most vulnerable to the effects of climate change, there is a pressing need for local businesses to adopt a more sustainable way of doing business.
BPI’s pioneering effort in harnessing solar energy underscores the many ways through which companies can do their part in working toward a greener planet.
Maranan said the solar-energized branch would create awareness on the commercial viability of technologies that utilize more sustainable energy.
Renewable sources of energy, such as the sun, have long been proven to be cleaner and a more sustainable alternative to fossil fuel.
It is estimated that the amount of sunlight that reaches the Earth could provide as much as 10,000 times more energy than the combined output of all the commercial power plants in the planet. This is roughly equivalent to about 6,000 times more than what the entire world needs.
Power cost in the Philippines is one of the most expensive in the Asian region, and some provinces are still plagued by rotating blackouts. Thus, something as dependable as sunlight can spell a big difference.
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